The Global Commission on Drug Policy says war on drugs style policies fuel the spread of HIV. The GCDP is a think tank comprised of 6 former world leaders, a former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, British entrepreneur Richard Branson and other notables.

Medicare will extend coverage, at no additional cost, to provide screening services for depression and for alcohol abuse disorders and to provide behavioral counseling to Seniors with alcohol abuse problems.

Old Dominion Freight Line in Arkansas is facing a federal lawsuit for violating the disability act rights of a driver they fired for being an alcoholic (the driver had never violated the company’s alcohol policies).

Crack users in Vancouver will soon have access to new free crack pipes, courtesy of Vancouver Coastal Health which will hand out the crack pipes to those that want them in Vancouver’s notoriously drug plagued Lower Eastside neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) passed a strong resolution that calls for an end to the 40 year long war on drugs, citing grossly imbalanced application of drug laws on the African American community and the war’s total ineffectiveness as compelling reasons for a change.

In Connecticut, getting caught with up to a half ounce of real marijuana will get you no more than a ticket and a small fine. Getting caught with ‘legal-high’ fake marijuana type drugs or salvia divinorum, however, could land you in jail!

A consortium of past and present world leaders and other influential figures call the drug war a total failure and say it’s time for the US to stop treating drug users like criminals and to open up to debate about other ways to handle the drug problem.